For me, the main questions I had for my surgeon were how long had he been doing bariatric surgery and how many patients had he had pass after having had surgery due to complications. Fortunately, he has only lost one patient in the 6 years he has been doing bariatric surgery and that is 1 in something like 1,500 folks. I felt pretty comfy with my odds there.
Everything else, my surgeon's office staff was on top of making sure that I knew what kinds of things to expect after surgery and a lot of things, they couldn't tell me because everyone is different.
Congratulations on your decision and I hope everything goes well for you.
My best friend is scheduled to have the gastric sleeve done on June 19th. Is this what you are having done? She has been through the whole enchilada....er....gamut of questions etc that should be asked. I'll see if I can get her to signup and come in here to talk to you. I'm sure there must be forums for specifically this somewhere. At any rate, I wish you wellness.
My questions include experience and training (where did he/she go to school? how many operations have they done?, of those, how many had post-op complications?, etc), what kind of follow-up do they offer/require, what kind of pre/post-op diets do they ask you to follow, do they have any references? Sometimes patients will agree to be a 'reference' for them - you can ask their former patient(s) many questions that will help you get an idea of what to expect from the physician, such as bedside manner, is he/she patient?, how is the support system?, etc. You may want to ask them what their experience has been with your insurance company, if they've ever had a patient who has used your insurance company before.
They are also good sources of information regarding your hospital stay.
I had my consult Monday. I should loose my weight between 2-4 years. I think I maybe can go it alone, after all it will only take me about a year to loose my weight. They did recommend the LapBand which is what I wanted to begin with. My psych consult is in July. Still haven't made up my mind totally.
It's basically the same way to lose weight you have to commit to exercise and watch your food. The only thing is your stomach is restricted. I was so sure that's what I wanted and now I don't know. I need to loose 150 lbs.
I didn't care for all the medicine changes, opening up capsules, crushing pills, chewable calicum and vitamins. I have an ileostomy and that is a restriction in it's self. Tiny amounts and continuous eating or drinking will take all day long. I need to drink massive amounts of water, because of my ileostomy, in fear of dehydration is a constent freat.
well, darlin. you certainly have a lot to think about. and let me drop one more issue into the mix. losing weight was NOT the only reason many of us had the surgery. for me, and for several others around here, the MAIN reason we had it was to help us keep the weight off.
whatever you decide to do is perfect - as long as it's your own decision.
Good luck with your decision what ever it may be but let me just clear a few things up.
With the lapband you ARE able to drink lots of water, I glug it all day long with no problem. The only thing you have to watch out for is the few weeks after surgery when you are healing, thats when you have to sip water but it really shouldn't be a problem.
Also the band is not a guarantee that you will lose all your weight in the amount of time you are saying. The band is a tool...with the band you are able to eat junk food (junk food goes down easier) so you will need to diet and exercise. The band does not change the brain. I can eat everything and anything I want just as long as I chew very well.
Good Luck and please let us know what you decide to do.
Good Luck whatever you decide. For me it wasn't just about losing the weight, it was about keeping it off. Prior to my lapband I couldn't find ANY weight (even 300 lb) that I could maintain and that was one of my biggest problems.
Yes, with the lapband I still have to make good food choices but it is SO much easier when I'm not hungry all the time and when I can see results (in the mirror, on the scales, in my clothes, in my health). I still need to exercise but that was always going to be true whatever I chose to do.
What about excess skin? If we lose weight gradullay, will the loose skin be less? I'm 53 so as far a elastivity goes I don't have any left. Will I burn up to cottage cheese look on my belly and legs.
Right now I have a problem with my hip, that just developed on a walk last night with my dogs. By the time I got back to the house I was in tears.
I had stretch marks from puberty and way more from my pregnancies so for me there was never any question I was going to have loose skin (and I do). Once I have lost my weight and stabilized I will almost certainly end up with PS but that has to do with my skin type rather than how I lost the weight. Some are very lucky and the skin tightens back up.
It really depends on the person and how your built. My weight is all in my stomach so yes, I have a lovely apron but the way I look at it is... I'd rather have some loose skin then be unhealthy. And if your insurance pays for it you can always have the skin removed. My arms are flabby too, but all in all, the bat wings don't bother me either... I can't wear tank tops but a short sleeved shirt covers it just fine.
I was worried about my hip, last Sunday I was walking the dogs and my hip just started hurting really bad with every step I took. I felt like something was tearing, very painful. I was limping the rest of the way home and crying. I'm also a breast cancer survivor of 8 years now. So I was very worried it had mastatized to my bone. I had a hip x-ray and found out that it doesn't show cancer, but my oncologist said if it is still hurting in 2 weeks we need to do a bone scan.
I was worried cause I want the Lap Band and I know they tell you, you have to walk because of blood clots. I have made up my mind, after talking to everyone on this board...what a great board this is. My psych appointment is the end of July.I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions.
Congratulations! I'm glad you came to your decision. It's different for all of us, and at least for me, it wasn't an easy one. I'm still battling with whether or not it's the right thing.. but I'm going for it no matter what. My surgery is Saturday. Good luck on psych eval.
I have my psych evaluation tomorrow morning. Will talk to the physcholgist for one hour and then take a 300 or 400 question psych test. Going to be a long and grouling morning for a Monday...so that's not unusal. LOL I wish I could just check yes for all of them and call it a day.
Lapband surgery
